1. Field of the Invention
The assessment of bone metabolism and bone disease remains a difficult problem in clinical medicine. The measurements of alkaline phosphatase in blood and hydroxyproline in urine have been the most widely used biochemical tests for this purpose. Although these measurements are of considerable clinical value, each has its limitations. Alkaline phosphatase is not a specific reflection of bone function, because its concentration in blood is also contributed to by the liver, gastrointestinal tract, placenta, certain tumors, and perhaps other sources. Hydroxyproline is similarly not specific for bone because it can be influenced by diet and nonosseous as well as osseous collagen.
It would therefore be of substantial value to have an assay which could be used in the specific diagnosis of bone related diseases, either independently or as a confirmation of other diagnostic factors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An abstract of a paper by Price et al. was published in June, 1979, for the meeting of the American Society For Bone And Mineral Research. Price and Nishimoto, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 2234-2238 (1980) and Price et al., J. Clin. Invest. 66, 878-883 (1980) both describe the subject invention. The references cited in the aforementioned references should also be noted.